ABS-CBN News

A group of Filipino artists has come to the defense of rapper Shanti Dope, whose song, according to the PDEA, promotes use of illegal drugs. File/George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News

Members of the Concerned Artists of the Philippines (CAP), a group founded by game-changing filmmaker and National Artist Lino Brocka, pride themselves in defending freedom of expression.

So when the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) proposed a ban on Shanti Dope's "Amatz," which authorities perceived was a song that promotes marijuana use, the CAP had a stern response.

"Hands off our music!" the group warned in a statement released on Facebook Friday. "Police the druglords, not our musicians! Defend artistic freedom!"

They criticized the PDEA for acting as music critics, saying: "It is not PDEA's job to be a music critic. Neither is it mandated to promote censorship and the suppression of artistic expression."

The artists described the move as a form of censorship, and explained how this actually risks "degrading the quality and integrity of the national conversation" on drug use and addiction.

"Leave the cultural commentary to the musicians, the fans, and the public at large," the CAP wrote. "Instead, focus on your mandate to jail the big druglords who still roam free."

"No less than President Rodrigo Duterte and the Philippine National Police admitted in recent statements that the country’s drug problem has 'worsened.' Why is the agency wasting the taxpayer’s money picking on a rap song, instead of reeling in the big fish?

"As long as the chief purveyors of illegal drugs remain, so will the culture of drug use and the social illness of addiction—and cultural expressions like music are mere reflections of this.